


The Little Things

by firefilia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, alternate universe where they can someday be happy, and comfort for lotor, and just a little for allura too, but for now? we'll start with best friends, they're kids but idk what age I have no real understanding of what kids are like at what age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:18:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17437151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefilia/pseuds/firefilia
Summary: Young Princess Allura has had enough of the party her father is throwing for foreign dignitaries. She's making her escape when she finds that another party guest has snuck off with some of her belongings.





	The Little Things

Allura wants absolutely nothing to do with this ball, with the foreign dignitaries, her tutors, even Coran. She especially does not want to meet with her father’s friends. She knows they love her, but if she has to hear them tell her she’s not ready for battle one more time, she’s going to punch a hole in the wall. She’s perfectly ready, and they still haven’t let her train with the gladiator aside from basic self-defense. No matter how many times she asks, they say that the risks of harm coming to her are too great. So this is why she’s taken the moment the eyes of her mother and Coran have slipped from her to run out of the castle with her pockets stuffed with biscuits, the silky purple ribbon tied to the back of her poofy pink dress trailing behind her, her skirts dragging on the ground as she rushes through the gardens towards the secret exit her father showed her on her sixth birthday.

She frowns at the loud ruffle of the dress as she dashes through the rows of columns, missing the stepping a little to the side on the path and ever-so-elegantly trips, legs flying into the air and cheek scraping across the stone. She’s about to shout the Altean curse word she managed to overhear Coran using in the engine room when a hand slaps over her mouth. Her shriek is muffled by the hand over her mouth as another winds around her waist and lifts her from the ground, pressing her into a small alcove between the bushes to the side of the path. The hand around her waist presses her back further against their chest, and she feels their chin brush across the top of her head before she bites into their hand and jabs her elbow backwards, stomping on their foot in the process. She twists around to see the white-haired figure doubled over in pain before rising to glare at her, biting their lip to no doubt hold back a yelp of pain. She could see a note of panic in the purple irises, the faint yellow glow coming from the boy’s eyes giving her enough light to see the small bag of books of the ground beside him.

“Who are you?” she demands, glaring right back and putting her hands on her hips.

All the boy does in response is raise a finger to his lips and shush her, jumping at the sound of a guard shouting something in the distance.

Allura huffs at him. “Don’t you _dare_ shush me!” she hisses at him and she can’t help but feel a little smug as he backs up a fraction of an inch. She takes the opportunity to lower herself down, skirts rising around her, to take a look at the books. She very quickly finds that they are in fact her books, and she snaps her head back around to look at the boy incredulously. “Why do you have _my_ books?”

The boy’s eyes widen even more, his lips sliding into an ‘o’ shape before he says, a mix of fear and breathlessness in his voice, “You’re the princess.”

Now this, this throws her off track more than any of the other odd things that have transpired in the past few minutes. “You didn’t know that?”

            He hesitantly nods, and she continues to look at him expectantly until he continues. “I’m… not from Altea. My parents are here for the party. With one of the delegations.”

            “So… you’re a noble?”

            The boy smiles somewhat bitterly before continuing, “Something like that.”

            Allura is about to ask if the boy was out here for the same reasons as her when both their heads snap up towards the sound of the guards at the end of the path. There’s a desperation in the boy’s eyes as he looks back at her. “Please don’t let them take us back into that party.”

            Not that she wants to do that either, but she doesn’t even know the boy’s name. He slings the bag of books over his shoulders before looking back at her. “I’ll give you these back, I promise.”

            She hesitates, eyes flickering between the boy and the sounds of the guards’ footsteps on the path.

The boy reaches forward and delicately takes her hand. “Please, Princess?”

            “I don’t know you.”

            “I know.”

            She takes a harsh grip on his hand and yanks him out onto the path, bolting for the garden wall. She takes a glance back at the boy to see that he seems truly afraid as opposed to her disobedient boredom, which spurs her on even faster. He can more than keep up and doesn’t hesitate to follow her when she dives into a bush just as a guard spots them and shouts for the others, doesn’t do anything but stare in wonder as she touches her hand to the wall and ushers him inside before closing the door behind them. Only then do they take a breath.

            Before she launches herself down the sharp slope of the hill they’re at the top of. She hears the shocked gasp of the boy as she topples down the hill, giggling gleefully as her hair twirls out of its braids, reveling in the feeling of the cool grass beneath her skin as she comes to a stop, looking around for the boy, only to find him standing at the top of the hill staring at her with his eyes blown wide.

<><><> 

            Lotor has never been more confused in his life than he has in the maybe ten minutes since he’s met Princess Allura of Altea. He has to believe she’s spent all her life trained in courtly behavior, manners, and diplomacy just as he has. Believed that meeting her was going to be a rather grim and reserved affair. But there she is. Standing at the bottom of a hill practically glowing with joy, twigs, leaves and dirt scattered across her dress and sticking out of her now-wild hair. The smile quickly snaps to a frown when she realizes where he is and jabs a finger at the ground next to her.

            “What are you waiting for? Get down here!”

            “You can’t be serious.”

            “Are you arguing with the _Princess_?” she says with a smugness to her words that lets him know she’s having fun with this.

            He can’t help the smile on his face. _She really doesn’t know._ He replies with an overdramatic “As you wish, Princess,” before flinging himself down the hill in a similar fashion to her.

            He feels a little insane as he rolls down the hill, laughter bubbling out of him, the thought of what his parents would do if they saw him like this immediately passing from his mind when he rolls to a stop right next to the princess. He stands and begins to dust himself off when she without a moment’s notice begins to briskly and purposefully walk through the calf-high grasses and even further from the castle. He gives up on cleaning himself up and falls in line next to her, matching her quick pace. He breaks the silence after a few moments of nothing but the unfamiliar sounds of the summer night, the breeze ghosting over the grasses smelling faintly like some sort of sweet.

            _So, this is Altea?_

            “Princess?”

            She glances at him questioningly and continues toward her goal.

            “Where exactly are we going? And how far from the castle?”

            She huffs at him. “Where I was already planning to go before you alerted the guards.”

            He feels himself flush in embarrassment. “My apologies, Princess.”

            She finally comes to a halt and turns to look up at him, her demeanor softening a little as she too looks a little embarrassed. “I should apologize for being so rude to you. I just… really hate these diplomatic events. I have to stand there stiff as a board next to my mother and father while they greet everyone and talk about scaultrite shipments and it feels…”

            “Like you’re holding your breath the whole time?”

            He could swear her eyes sparked with her response. “Yes! That exactly!” The princess continues on for a few more steps before she stops to stare at him again. “You’ve never been to Altea before?”

            “Never, Princess.”

            He’s nearly overcome just by the warmth of this girl’s smile. “Then close your eyes. No peeking.”

            Curiosity may just kill him. But he may just be alright with that. He closes his eyes

            He can feel the princess delicately take him by the hands, tugging lightly to drag him forward. The feeling of the grasses on his legs is gone, and that sweet scent on the wind only grows stronger.

            Her words are almost a whisper.

            “Now, open your eyes.”

            Lotor does just that and is met with a field of pink blossoms, almost certainly the source of the smell, peppered with small yellow glowing lights that he realizes are some sort of bug.

            The princess is still holding his hands, standing before him with a gentle smile, an even more beautiful variation of the lopsided one when she rolled down the hill. “Where are we Princess?”

            She takes a sit on the ground, tugging him down with her, her skirts puffing up around her. Lotor stifles a laugh.

            _Like a cupcake_.

            “This is my place. These are juniberry blossoms. The flower of Altea.”

            “Why would you bring me here?”

            “Because I trust you.”

            “Why?”

            The princess laughs. “I don’t really know. I don’t even know your name.”

            He tilts his head forward in a small bow. “Prince Lotor of Daibazaal, heir to the Galra Empire.”

            The sparkling blue galaxies of her eyes widen as a range of emotions cross her face, settling on apprehension.

            It was nice while it lasted. “I apologize for ruining our little adventure.”

            Allura takes his hands back into hers. “No! Don’t apologize. I’m just… surprised you’re not…”

            He tilts his head at her. “Not…?”

            “Taller?”

            The princess was making him laugh again. “You’d… heh… You’d be surprised.”

            “Is that so?”

            “Have you met the leader of the Blade of Marmora yet? Kolivan?”

            She shook her head.

            Lotor leaned in as if to tell her a secret. “His stepson is half human. He’s nearly as short as you.”

            He finds himself nearly cackling at the astonished look on Allura’s face. “No!”

            “Yes!”

            When their laughter dies back down Allura points at his bag full of her books. “Why did you take those?”

            He blushes a little as he explains. “I’m sure you know that my mother is Altean, but she and my father are… less than enthusiastic about me learning your customs and history. You’re much more peaceful than a leader of the Galra should be I suppose. I thought this may be my only chance to learn.”

            Allura waves her hand at him. “You can have them. I’m rather sick of them anyways. But for now…”

            She leans over to grab one of the books before scooting to sit next to him, resting the book between the two of them, her hands glowing pink in lieu of a light.

            “Would you like to read them together, Lotor?”

            “If you’ll allow it, Princess.”

            She leans her head on his shoulder. “Allura.”

            He takes a moment to breathe in the juniberries, the sounds of Altea, and the friend now leaning on his shoulder as she begins to read an Altean myth aloud. “Allura.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Secret Santa gift for a gift exchange on tumblr! One of the ship options they requested was Lotura, which I was really in the mood for after S8. I want them both happy. Hope you like it! Comments always more than appreciated <3
> 
> Find me on tumblr @firefilia (multifandom) or @chez-shay (VLD)


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